Romney voted against presidential run in family poll

Leading up to the 2012 election, Mitt Romney was more than reluctant to jump into the race

Published July 2, 2013 1:23PM (EDT)

In a new book due out in August, the Washington Post's Dan Balz reports that Mitt Romney voted against his own 2012 presidential bid in an internal family poll leading up to the decision.

From Sam Stein at the Huffington Post, who obtained an early copy of the book:

Over the Christmas break of 2010, Mitt Romney and his family took an internal poll on whether he should run for president once more. Twelve family members cast ballots. Ten said no. One of the 10 was Mitt Romney himself.

The doubts that the former Massachusetts governor harbored before ultimately launching his second unsuccessful bid for the presidency are one of several attention-grabbing details in "Collision 2012," the newest book on the 2012 campaign.

In an interview with Balz, Romney said that he changed his mind when he realized how weak the other candidates were in the Republican primary field. "I didn't think that any one of them had a good chance of defeating the president," Romney said, "and in some cases I thought that they lacked the experience and perspective necessary to do what was essential to get the country on track."


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

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2012 Elections Ann Romney Barack Obama Mitt Romney Republicans